The
Malaysian Hockey League is fast becoming the butt of jokes amongst the hockey
fraternity.
While
the initial intentions were noble – to create another platform for hockey
players to be involved in competitive hockey throughout the year plus to
introduce a Women’s Hockey League, it has obviously not been done with much
thought and handled in a manner that cast serious aspersions on the ability of
the MHC Competitions Committee.
The
rules seem to be ambiguous, as there is no clarity on the eligibility of
players, for instance can those involved in coaching the various national teams
be allowed to play in the Division One.
Then
there is the case of the womens league eligibility of players – if a player who
is a national trainee but has yet to earn a single international cap be deemed
as a national player.
But
the crux of the problem is the constant, and last minute change of fixtures
that have many stumped.
From
the beginning the MHL was besieged by problems, as the fixtures for the Women’s
League showed that it will be all over by April 12, hardly before anyone
becomes aware of it. The Women’s League was being done to akin a “pasar malam”
trader who comes one night, sells his wares and never to return, knowing that
its sub standard items that were sold.
The
teams were told off at the managers meeting on March 9, in simple words to
adhere to what the Competitions Committee had decided, with no room to voice
their displeasure. What was more baffling was that MHC Senior Vice President
Prof Dr. Shamala Subramaniam was preset and said or did nothing to protect the
interest of the women.
And
now the fixtures have mysteriously been changed, extending the leage to end of
April, when really that could and should have been decided much earlier if due
care and planning was in place.
It
gets better as matches scheduled for Sunday March 23 have now been postponed,
with the final of the Sultan Azlan shah Cup cited as a reason. All of MHC was
well aware that the final was on that day, so why schedule matches in the first
place. As a matter of fact why can’t the Division One start after the Azlan Shah
Cup, what was the big rush?
The
MHC Competition Committee has to shoulder the blame for the state of affairs as
it clearly showed poor planning and a total disregard to the importance of
doing things the correct way, with decisions being made by a select few.
As
an early notice to the Competitions Committee, are you aware that you have
scheduled matches during the Champions Challenge period?
